Studies In Love
by Erik's Rose
Summary: Draco and Harry are forced to work together, will they be able to look past their differences and find something they never expected in each other, or forever be enemies?
1. Pairs

-1 Dumbledore glanced over Snape's list. "I understand your concern Severus but there's no way to avoid it, they'll have to work together. It will disrupt other good partnerships if we don't."

"But Potter and Malfoy as study partners is hardly an ideal situation Albus, they hate each other with a vengeance. If they don't end up killing each other it's still debateable whether or not they'll get any work done."

"I know, but there's no way around it that's worth doing, they'll just have to live with it." Snape nodded. He had no idea what was going to happen when he announced the study partners tomorrow, but to keep on the right side of the ministry they had to assign the potions students a partner, and Potter and Malfoy, were going to have to get used to it.

"I have an announcement to make." Snape had never seen a classroom become so alert before, he fought the urge to laugh, they couldn't have looked more shocked if he'd offered them free sweets. He glanced around to make sure everyone was paying attention then continued.

"In accordance with a new ministry recommendation, due to the appalling OWL results in potions last year, you have all been assigned study partners for this term." He waited to see the results of this arrangement, a ripple of whispers passed around the room. "I shall now read out the arrangements and then you may go." Snape slowly read out the partners. A couple of times there was a slight groan but nothing warranting any reaction. He left Malfoy and Potter second to last, just before Neville and Hermione. The reaction was spectacular.

"WHAT!" they\screamed at the same time. Hermione knocked over her cauldron, Pansy dropped a vial which shattered and Ron looked like he'd just swallowed a cactus.

"Is there a problem?" Snape asked in what he knew would be considered infuriatingly calm and bored to them.

"I'm with Malfoy?"

"I have to study with Potter?"

"Yes and yes." He smirked, the looks on their faces were priceless. "Just try not to kill each other, and it could be fine, you already have found something in common."

"What Professor?" It was clear Malfoy was finding it hard to keep the respect in his voice.

"Clearly Mr Malfoy, you and Potter think alike. The thing you have in common is obvious, neither of you like this one bit." Harry felt like exploding, it was damned infuriating, Snape was right.


	2. Points of View

-1Harry's POV

Harry was wishing potions would finish. He wished he would be able to give it up after the OWLs. But giving up potions would mean giving up any chance of becoming an auror. He sighed and glanced at his watch, it would be over in about two minutes. Suddenly, Snape spoke.

"I have an announcement to make." Harry, along with the rest of the class, suddenly had their attention completely caught. Snape never made announcements, he gave orders, knocked off house points and shouted, he ever made announcements. It was even stranger when his announcement communicated that not only did Dumbledore seem to be conforming to the ministries wishes, but they were being put into pairs, it was like a muggle primary school activity. Harry half-listened, waiting for his name. When it came, he exploded at the same time as his partner.

"WHAT?" He was paired with Malfoy? Of all the people in the class why had he ended up with his worst enemy? There had to be a mistake. Snape may hate Harry but he liked Malfoy, why would he stick them together when there was absolutely no love lost between them? It infuriated Harry that Snape didn't seem to give a damn. He actually seemed to find it amusing. Even Malfoy seemed to be finding it hard to keep respect for his potions master. The worst thing was when Snape described what they had in common, he and Draco. Snape was right about one thing, neither of them were going to like this.

Draco's POV

Draco was bored. They had made a relatively simple potion and the end of the lesson was dragging on a bit. He was surprised when Snape had an announcement, it had never happened before. He was disappointed by the anti-climax of it being simply that they would have study partners. When he heard most of the Slytherins assigned he began to hope he would at least get a Gryffindor he didn't know, then the bombshell fell and he couldn't help but react.

"WHAT?" Of all the people in the class to be paired with he got Potter? He almost wished he'd got Granger. It worried him slightly that, although it was a shock, it wasn't bothering him as much as he'd predicted. He supposed it was the fact that although Potter wasn't the best potions maker in the world, he could make potions. It was better, he reasoned, in the sense of ability, than getting Longbottom. He stalked out of the classroom. He really didn't want to have to work with Potter, and though Snape had been joking, it would be an achievement if they managed not to kill each other.

A/N I realise this is short but it's just giving a bit of insight

There will be more soon I promise

Kindest Regards

ER


	3. Truce

-1 Harry frowned. This was a disaster, but there was no way around it, he had to work with Draco. Ron was having a rant.

"I can't believe that git put you with Malfoy! What is he playing at?"

"For goodness sake Ron!" Hermione was getting exasperated. "Will you stop ranting for five minutes. For all we know it was random, or Snape didn't have a choice. Maybe Dumbledore did it because he thinks perhaps it will build a bridge or something. It's no good going on about it anyway, it's done."

"Still, Malfoy. I mean, it's Malfoy." Ron sighed, Harry turned to him.

"I'm not sure why I care but is that all you can say? It's Malfoy? If your going to dispute Snape's decision you could mention how Malfoy's evil and my enemy."

"Sorry mate." said Ron. "It's just bizarre."

"You're telling me. I'd rather be paired with Crabbe or Goyle. Instead I've got the second most talented potions maker in our year. No doubt he'll find fault with everything I do." Hermione and Ron shrugged. There wasn't a lot they could say. Then Ron frowned.

"Erm, Harry?"

"Yeah."

"Did I hear you right mate? Did you actually just compliment Malfoy?" Harry frowned, confused for a moment, then realisation dawned.

"Oh. I didn't mean it as a compliment, I just mean he's good so he'll criticise me."

The conversation ended there and the three of them walked back to the Gryffindor common room in silence. It had been one long day, with a long potions lesson that ended with a bombshell which would most likely be around the entire school by dinner. All Harry wanted to do was to crawl into bed and wake up to find he'd had a nightmare and he wasn't really paired with Draco Malfoy. Despite the fact that it was an impossibility that he'd achieve that relief, his stomach protested his idea and he joined Ron and Hermione heading to the great hall after depositing their bags.

A ripple of gossip spread through the hall as Harry walked in and quite a few pairs of eyes glanced in his direction, he suspected Malfoy had received the same greeting. He chose to ignore it and sat at the Gryffindor table, careful to avoid catching anyone's eye. He happened to glance up just as Malfoy was doing the same thing. Their eyes met and a spark of electricity shot through them. They quickly looked away. Harry frowned, wondering where that feeling had come from? Did they really hate each other that much? Draco chewed thoughtfully on his food, if that tension was between them during nothing more than a meal, how in the world were they going to manage to study together?

Harry tapped his foot impatiently, he was waiting in the library for Malfoy. Harry frowned, he really didn't see how this was going to work, but there really was no way out of it. Short of one of them dying, there was no way Harry and Draco were going to get out of working together. Much as he disliked Draco, Harry thought it a bit extreme to kill him just to get out of studying with him. A few seconds later Draco arrived and slid into the chair next to Harry. Neither boy looked at each other but rather busied themselves getting their textbooks and potions notes out of their bags. After arranging their notes five times they realised they couldn't put off communicating with each other forever. Draco broke the silence.

"What do you suggest we work on first, Potter?" Harry was a little surprised, no sarcasm? No snide comment? No smart remark? He might just drop dead from shock. He realised he hadn't answered Draco's question and Draco had raised one inquiring eyebrow. He swallowed and shrugged. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well is there anything you're struggling with or want to know more about?" Harry quickly searched for condescension in Draco's tone, and was disappointed when his search proved in vain. Draco raised an eyebrow again when Harry didn't respond. He turned to face Harry completely.

"Look Potter, I don't like this arrangement anymore than you do but we might as well get on with it so we can get it over with sooner rather than later. So for now could we call truce?" Harry blinked in surprise while Draco waited patiently for his reply. After a pause Harry nodded. Draco extended his hand.

"Truce?"

"Truce." And they studied. This continued for three months. Harry and Draco would meet in the library, greet each other with a nod, then a brief discussion would determine exactly what they were going to concentrate on. The study didn't consist of much more than comparing notes and learning in greater depth. Over time both boys noticed that working with a partner did mean the information seemed to be more firmly implanted into their heads.

Whatever truce they had in their studying however, did not follow through. The second they left the library or whatever area they chose to study in, they were back to being mortal enemies. They would rarely pass without a sarcastic comment or sneer passing between them. Outside of studying nothing had changed, it was only at those times Harry and Draco were alone that the truce was used.

It wasn't long before Hermione and Ron, Ron especially, couldn't hold back any longer and asked Harry how the studying with Draco was going.

"Fine." Said Harry simply. Ron frowned.

"Fine?" he asked.

"Fine." Harry repeated.

"Is that all you can say?"

"Well what else can I say Ron? You asked how the studying was going, it's going fine."

"Yeah but, I mean, what do you do?" Harry frowned at Ron as though he'd lost his mind.

"What do you think we do? We study." Harry shook his head and sat down. Hermione smiled at the expression on Ron's face he looked confused, and bitterly disappointed. Harry didn't really want to talk about the studying, he knew Ron wouldn't understand the truce and question him about it while trying to make up stupid theories about why Malfoy would call a truce. It was simply that they had to work together and were making the best of it. It was strange though. It wasn't only the fact that he was working with Malfoy, he was enjoying it. He was doing better in potions and when he and Malfoy worked together they were almost like friends. They never strayed from the subject but they had a shared enthusiasm for certain aspects of it and to an outsider it would look like they'd been working together for years. It was almost how he and Hermione would have worked together. Only with Hermione he knew a lot about her, he knew virtually nothing about Malfoy and Malfoy knew nothing about him. He felt a little uneasy with that fact. He would have liked to know something more about Malfoy, but he had no clue why. Outside of their study sessions they were mortal enemies, bitter rivals, known throughout the school as such. In their study sessions, with a truce in plays, they were more than civil, they bordered on friends. It seemed strange to Harry that the one person he really hated, he actually enjoyed working with. There was more to Malfoy than he'd assumed, and he wanted to find out more.


	4. Friends

-1A/N This is a really short chapter but I wanted to get this bit done and it felt better on it's own. Please R/R

"Okay, Harry. What we focusing on today?" Harry looked up at Draco.

"Can I ask you something?" Draco looked inquiringly at Harry.

"Sure."

"This truce we have, have you ever thought of maybe…extending it?" Draco frowned.

"I'm afraid I don't follow you." Harry sighed, he wasn't explaining himself very well, but at least Draco hadn't changed the subject or anything.

"Well, we work well together and have done quite well with the truce, but I know nothing about you save what everyone else knows. It sounds weird Draco but sometimes in these sessions we're almost friendly, I just don't see why we can't be friends." It was only after Harry had finished he realised how lame he sounded and how Draco probably regretted the truce. When he looked up though, Harry saw that Draco almost looked amused.

"I don't see why not, let's start. My favourite colour is green and my favourite food is strawberries with whipped cream." Draco grinned at Harry. "Okay now you go." Harry was a little taken aback.

"Erm…well my favourite colour is red and my favourite food is strawberry cheesecake." Harry grinned then. "That wasn't so tricky." Draco smiled.

"Okay, how about we shock the entire school and start hanging around together, really get to know each other and work out why we became mortal enemies." Harry nodded. He hadn't really thought about it, but he couldn't really say how they'd become such enemies, they had quite a lot in common. Draco grinned, something Harry had never seen him do before. They moved on to studying, but this time, is was accompanied by smiles, and a few jokes, this time, it was between friends.


	5. Understand

-1 No-one was surprised when Harry and Draco walked into the great hall together, no-one was surprised when they parted ways to sit with their friends, no-one was surprised by anything either of the two boys did. Then came the end of dinner and they sought each other out in the crowd and started talking. It wasn't the fact they were talking that was strange, they often exchanged insults and remarks, but this had been seeking each other, and they were talking about Quidditch.

Ron's jaw dropped, Hermione gasped, the Gryffindors and Slytherins looked incredibly confused, the Ravenclaws started talking quickly in hushed tones and the Hufflepuffs rushed off, probably to check and see if hell had frozen over. After a few moments when everybody but Harry, Draco and the Ravenclaws had fallen silent, Ron tapped Harry on the shoulder.

"What?" Harry turned.

"Err, Harry mate, what are you doing?" Harry frowned.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm talking, don't interrupt." He turned back to Malfoy and they resumed their conversation. As everyone continued to move, they listened to Harry and Draco as though they were gossiping about something incredibly exciting. When they got to the point where Gryffindors and Slytherins parted they said their goodbyes.

"See you later, Potter."

"Bye, Malfoy." They set off in opposite directions. The rest of the students were still for a moment, then the Slytherins rushed after Draco shouting questions. The Gryffindors started discussing what had just happened as Ron and Hermione rushed after Harry. They caught up with him just as Harry reached the portrait.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped. "What just happened." Harry grinned,

"That was brilliant, I think we gave the whole school a heart attack." Hermione and Ron just stared, frowning in disbelief. The three of them climbed through the portrait hole.

"Mate," Ron breathed. "What is going on? You were talking to Malfoy as though you were brothers or something." Harry turned to his two friends.

"You may want to sit down while I explain this." They wordlessly sat in front of the fire and Harry stood in front of them. "When Malfoy and I started studying together we called a truce during studying so we could get some work done. It worked really well and our study sessions were great, I'm better at potions now. I just thought we could be friends, kind of call a permanent truce and it's great, I've even forgotten why we were enemies, we've got a lot in common." He finished and looked at his friend. While Hermione looked slightly bewildered Ron looked furious.

"You've forgotten why you're enemies? Does that mean you've forgotten we're friends?" Harry stared at Ron.

"What?"

"The Malfoys are all evil Death Eaters! They insult my family and put down Hermione, and now you're suddenly friends with one of the! Christ, Harry what the hell were you thinking?" Harry was taken aback.

"Look, I know Draco's done some things in the past…"

"Oh so it's _Draco _now is it Harry? Why don't you just declare allegiance to you-know-who?" Harry's jaw dropped, Hermione rounded on Ron.

"That's not fair Ron! We don't know everything."

"Oh really?" Ron exploded. "All I know Harry, is you've lost your bloody mind, and that you're turning into a death eater!" Ron ran up to the dormitories. Harry looked like Ron had hit him. He sat down heavily. Hermione reached over.

"It has been a shock Harry, give him time to cool down." Harry swallowed hard and nodded. "One thing though, Harry, I don't know everything. Malfoy hasn't been the best of people, why the sudden friendship?" Harry thought for a moment. He honestly didn't know why he'd started to see Draco as a friend. There were some issues they needed to discuss, such as Draco's behaviour towards muggle-borns and people like the Weasleys, but he couldn't see it being a huge problem. Harry didn't know how he knew, but he just knew that Draco had changed. Why couldn't anybody else see it.

"I can't really define it Hermione. I need to talk to Draco though, about things like treating you differently, Ron's right that he hasn't been particularly nice to us." Harry sighed. "I'll sort it all out tomorrow, I'm tired, I'll see you in the morning." He ascended the stairs and went to bed, ignoring Ron's closed curtains. He had a lot to talk to Draco about, and a lot to do if he was ever going to get Ron to forgive him. Draco may have changed, but Harry knew it would take more than a change of heart to satisfy Ron.


End file.
